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Industry News

The Netherlands’ Pararius and TreeHouse have merged

15 June 2017By Gordana Davila0 CommentsNEWS, Industry News

Pararius, one of the largest independent websites for rental properties in the Netherlands, part of Oaklins Netherlands, has merged with TreeHouse. The new group, Real Estate Classifieds (REC), operates some of the largest rental housing classified advertisement websites in the Netherlands.

Real Estate Classifieds’ main websites are Pararius.nl and Huurwoningen.nl, ranking in first and second place among Dutch rental housing classified advertisement market, measured by the total number of listings, monthly visitors and SEO.

Koopwoningen.nl and Kamers.nl are also operated by REC, and CRM software (Pararius Office) used by over 200 Dutch real estate agencies is distributed by the company as well. Unlike other online companies on the Dutch market, REC posts original advertisements and does not resort to scraping from secondary sources.

REC has revealed that in the recent past its websites have shown significant growth, partially due to favourable market developments, a strong proposition to both consumers and advertisers and the development of new features.

Management looks to accelerate REC’s growth by combining Pararius and TreeHouse’s strengths, as well as further leveraging on the companies’ market leadership in the rental field. REC is keen to boost its presence in the purchase segment, where Funda is the current leader. Funda however is not independent, as it is owned by the real estate brokerage association NVM, making it possible for REC to become the overall #1 real estate classified advertisement platform for the Netherlands.

Jasper de Groot, CEO of REC: “We have the deeply rooted desire to deliver the best online services for the Dutch housing market and now have the power to develop innovative features for all our customers who are treated equally on our independent platform.” Jasper continues “Based on a track record of over 10 years, a strong market position, favourable market growth drivers and value chain dynamics that are beneficial to our company, I look forward leading REC into the future.”

Frank de Hek, Partner of Oaklins Netherlands: “The online real estate classified advertisement market is being reshaped by increasing levels of professionalism, new earning models and market consolidation. The merger between Pararius and TreeHouse perfectly fits these trends.”

Oaklins' team in the Netherlands acted as the exclusive M&A advisor to the shareholders of both companies. The transaction team consisted of Frank de Hek and Casper Oude Essink.

Oaklins has globally closed over 150 consumer and retail deals in the last 5 year. Examples include the sale of dé VakantieDiscounter to Otravo, the acquisition of Flygstolen by Otravo, the sale of Iens to TripAdvisor, the sale of EMP Merchandising to Sycamore Partners and the sale of Starbuck’s exclusive rights to Baristas Del Caribe. As such, Oaklins has secured a leading M&A advisory position in the consumer and retail sector.